Automatic fire-extinguisher



(N0 Model.)

0. L. HORAOK.

AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHBR.

Patented Nov. 6, 1883.

Jm *fiw/ I mum mpher. Waddngmq. n. c.

' UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

cuannns L. nonaok, or BROOKLYN, new YORK.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISH ER.

srEcrrroArroiv forming n of Letters Patent No. 288,059, dated November6, 1883.

Application filed January 31, 1883. (No model.)

i" 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. HORAOK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, inthecounty of Kings and State of New 'York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Fire-Extinguishers,of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to construct an automaticfire-extinguisher having one or more outlets closed by avalve in such amanner that a soldered joint or a number of soldered joints be used tohold said valve in position until released by the heat of a fire, andthat the extinguishing-fluid, when itbegins to pass out of thedistributor, be prevented from reaching the soldered joint or jointsbefore at least one of them has been broken on tirely, therebyliberating the valve. Another object of my invention is to provide asimple and effective distributor for theextinguishingfluid by firmlyfixing in front of the outlet or outlets a deflector, and by arrangingon the face of this deflector suitable projections adapt,- ed toconvertinto aspray the stream or streams of water discharged upon itafter the valve has been removed from its-seat or seats. I attain theseobjects in thenianner illustrated in the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification.

Figure 1 represents a vertical section, and

Fig. 2 a side elevation, of a device constructed according to myinvention. Fig. 3 also represents a vertical section'of a device showingsome of the leading features of my invention. In Fig. 1, V represents acap-shaped valve placed over the outside of and surrounding adischarge-nozzle or distributor, C, which is shown to have in itsoutside walls two circular openings, passing around the same andarranged to produce intersecting streams. These openings are indicatedby the letters 0 0. The valve V 1s provided with two seats, one aboveand the other below the perforations, and it has rigidly attached to ita rim or collar, B, extending entirely aroundits circumference.

v E is a flexible collar firmly attached to the casting X, whichcontains the nozzle or distributor O. Said flexible collar E shouldpreferably be made of metal possessing spring power.

When the valve V is being forced to its seat the upper surface of thecollar B, attached to it, is brought in contact with and made to fit thelower edge of the flexible collar E, and said flexible collar, or atleast the elastic part of it, is made to spring upward, remaining,however, in close contact with the collar B, thereby forming awater-tight joint. A suitable packing, 19, either of soft metal or ofsome other yielding substance-such as wax or paraffine placed betweenthe two collars G and B. might be employed to assist in making saidjoint tight.

M and M are posts attached to the casting X. They serve to flrmlyhol din a position in front of the outlets the annular deflector D, which isrigidly attached to them. Said deflector D is shown to have a V-shapedcrosssection, with projections or teeth t i on that part of its surfacewhich is designed to deflect the water. These teeth serve to cut up intoa spray the water discharged by the distributer. They are shown to beplaced along the outer edges of the deflector, but might be placed onother parts of its surface and still answer a similar purpose.

Distributors have been constructed hereto fore with a disk having aserrated rim, said disk being placed at right angles to the direction ofthe stream passing out of the discharge-nozzle, and the teeth simplyoifering deflecting-surfaces to the extinguishing fluid, after the samehad already been deflected once by the smooth part of the disk formingthe deflector. Under this arrangement some of the fluid discharged bythe nozzle would not strike the teeth at all, and the remaining partwould reach them only in a secondary manner. The quantity of the fluidthrown against the teeth, and the angle under which it would strike thesame, would greatly de pend upon the pressure applied to said fluid.-This fact has been fully established by experience. These difficulties Iovercome by constructing a discharge-nozzle with one, or more lateraloutlets, and locating the deflector in front of the same, so as to placethe teeth or projections in such positions as'to have the water passingout of the nozzle discharged against said teeth or stud shapedprojections direct, in that manner procuring a more uniform distributionunder different pressures.

Near the lower end of the post M a projec- IOO tion, z, is provided,which serves as a support for the free end of the lever L, a recessbeing provided in said lever to rest on said projection 2. At Y saidlever L is made to rest on the valve V, in order to hold it to its seatwhile the upper end of L is secured to the casting X at the point A, bymeans of a fusible solder-joint, J, or in any other manner so as to berelieved by the heat of a fire. The lever L is shown to also containanother such joint, at J, and it will be seen that whenever either thejoint J or the joint J breaks, owing to the heat of a fire, the valve,following its own weight, and also actuated by the pressure of theextinguishing fluid and the springpower of the flexible-collar E, willleave its seat and will allow the extinguishing fluid to be dischargedupon a fire after first striking the deflectorD. n

It is a common occurrence with automatic. sprinklers provided with avalve for closing the outlets thereof that in case of a slow fire, asthe temperature rises gradually, the solder used for confining the valvein its position begins to'fuse, allowing the parts forming said joint tomove along each other for a short distance without, however, separatingentirely or breaking the joint. As a result, extinguishing fluid isallowed to escape between the valve and its seat, and by striking whatremains of the sol dered-joint to keep the same cool, therebyinterrupting the fusing process and preventing 'the valve from becomingliberated entirely,

thereby seriously crippling the device and keeping it from coming intofull operation.

By providing the two collars E and B, resting upon each other, andmaking at least one of them flexible, and provided with springpower, Iprevent any such occurrence,particularly as far as the lower joint, J,is concerned, for it will readily be seen that as the valve V,

1 and with it the collar 0, begins to move downward, the elastic collarB will closely follow the same, thereby maintaining, until its ownelasticity and spring-power is exhausted, the water-tight jointmentioned above, and allowing the soldered joint J to be brokenentirely, thereby overcoming the difficulty described above.

When the valve closing the outlet is adj usted to move downward, andwhere the casing containing the distributer extends sidewise beyond thevalve-seat, as in this case, water escaping prematurely from thedistributer will necessarily be discharged either sidewise or downward,but cannot reach the upper surface or the sides of the casing. Takingadvantage of this fact I place the upper joint, J, in the position shownin Fig. 1, attaching the lever to the projection A on the casing X,thereby protecting it against any water that may es-- cape from thedistributer below it.

Fig. 2 shows a side view of the device after the lever and the valve Vhave dropped off, one-half of the deflector being shown on theright-hand side.

. zle.

The details of the device might be varied. Only one discharge-opening oraseries of openings might be provided in the discharge-noz- Of the twocollars E or B, either one or both might be made elastic, in order toproduce and maintain a water-tight joint between them, and also toassist in forcing the valve from its seat, and an additional andindependent spring might be provided to assist in relieving the valve.structed in the form of a disk and with only one seat, and either thejoint J or the joint J might be omitted, as in either casethe remainingone, after being broken by the heat of a fire, would allow the valve todrop. The deflector instead of being of a V-shaped cross-section,

might have any other suitable cross-section,

and might be made either sloping toward the axis of the distributer, orat right angles to the same.- It might also be made to containperforations, allowing a part of the extinguishing fluid to pass throughthe same. For the lever L a device containing screw-threads for forcingthe valve to its seat might be substituted.

Fig. 3 shows a vertical section of another device embodying some of theleading features of my invention. N is a nipple provided withscrew-threads for attaching it to a system of piping. In front of theoutlet Q is placed a swinging valve, V, hinged to the lugs, of whichonly one (indicated by the letter 1) appears in this section, and whichare attached to the outer side of said nipple, and secured at 1' bymeans of fusible solder to another lug, m5 attached to said nipple. n isa yielding packing provided for the purpose of securing a tight jointbetween the valve and its seat. The detions S S, is fixed rigidly infront of said out- The valve itself might be conlet by means of theposts 1) 1), which are attached firmly to the same, as well as to theoutside of the nipple N, a sufficient space being left between valve anddeflector to allow said valve to swing open fully, which in this casewould be caused by the pressure of the extinguishing fluid exerted uponit, and to have the full stream discharged through the nozzle directedagainst the deflector D.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentv 1. In adistributer for fluids provided with adischarge-nozzle having one ormore outlets,

a capsurrounding said discharge-nozzle and a stationary deflector placedaround said. cap and in front of said outlet or outlets, substantiallyas set forth.

2. In a distributer for fluids, the combina= tion, with adischarge-nozzle constructed to discharge the fluid laterally, of anannular deflector placed around said nozzle and provided with a serratedrim, substantially as set forth.

3. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the combination, with adischarge-nozzle, of a valve adjusted to move downward, and of a-leversupporting the valve and transferring thepressure thereon to a joint tobe broken by the action of heat, the construction being such that saidjoint is placed above the valve seat, substantially as set forth.

4. In an automatic fireextinguisher, the combination, with adischarge-nozzle, of a valve adjusted to move downward, and of a leverheld in position by a fusible joint, part of the casing containing thevalve-seat being interposed between said joint andthe distributor,substantially as set forth.

5. In an automatic fire extinguisher, the combination, with a casingcontaining the valve seat and providedwith a collar, of a valve providedwithacollar, the two collars being made to rest upon each other untilthe valve has been released by the heat of a fire, one of said collarsbeing made flexible, substantially as s both collars being made to restupon each 25 other, substantially as set forth.

v CHARLES L. HORAOK. Witnesses:

Bonus M. WILLIAMs, XVALDORF H. PHILLIPs.

